You Wouldn't Eat a Tiger, So Why Would You Eat Endangered Bluefin Tuna?

As the Atlantic bluefin tuna season opens, environmental groups are warning that due to overfishing there's only about 3 years left for the large fish. In an effort to shift public opinion around eating bluefin, Greenpeace is characterizing eating the endangered fish like eating a rhino or tiger:Greenpeace Oceans campaign director John Hocevar pointedly says, "Don't sell it. Don't buy it. Don't eat it. Critically endangered species are not food." The problem is of course that plenty of people do see bluefin as quite tasty food. And one with a serious carbon footprint.

Once caught, the fish are packed into refrigerated coffins and flown to auction in Tokyo, where they are bought for up to $100,000 per tuna (bluefin are quite large...). From there, if not consumed locally, they are flown again around the world for sale in the United States, Europe or China.